BY THE PUBLICATION
OF SAMUEL PRICHARD'S MASONRY DISSECTED in 1730, the Masonic system of
initiation had been established with three Craft Degrees: Entered Apprentice,
Fellow Craft, and Master Mason. Even though the three Craft or Blue Lodge
Degrees continued to be modified and elaborated, the basic components and the
structure of the degrees was firmly established. It did not take long, however,
before new rituals began to appear on the Masonic scene. These new rituals were
often considered to be complements to or elaborations of the Craft Degrees. In
fact, the Masonic lodges of the second half of the eighteenth century
experienced a virtual "ritual- boom", especially in France and the
German-speaking countries. Many of these new rituals were collected into systems
or rites,
[1] and these rites often competed
with each other to serve as the sole custodian of what was claimed to be the
secret of Masonry.[2]
The High Degrees are often referred to as "Red Degrees", while the three Craft
Degrees in their turn are referred to as "Blue Degrees". In order to be eligible
for the High Degrees, the candidate must be a Master Mason.

TEMPLAR AND
ECOSSAIS RITES

In discussing
Masonic High Degrees of the eighteenth century, a distinction needs to be made
between what is known as the Templar Degrees, on the one hand, and the Ecossais
( or Scottish) Degrees on the other. It has been established that the Ecossais
Degrees come from London,[3]
whereas the Templar Degrees have a French origin.[4]
These two types of High Degrees are the most characteristic degrees of the
eighteenth century.[5]

The earliest
reference to Ecossais or Scottish Masonry in England is a "Scots Masters Lodge"
held at the Devil's Tavern, Temple Bar, London, in 1733. This lodge met on the
second and fourth Monday of each month, and the lodge was active until 1736 when
it was erased from the list of lodges. In 1735 a total of twelve masons were
"made" Scots Masters at Lodge NO.113 at the Bear Inn, Bath. Five years later, in
1740, there were at least three more references to masons being made or "rais'd"
Scots Masters.[6]
Ecossais Masonry appears to have spread to the Continent at an early stage, and
references to this type of High Degree Masonry in Berlin date from at least 1741
and in France from around 1743.[7]

While the Ecossais
Degrees to a large extent are occupied with the construction of a new Temple (an
implicitly Christian theme), the Templar Degrees center on the legend that
Freemasonry derived from the medieval Knights Templar. The order of the Knights
Templar , founded in the first decade of the twelfth century, was disbanded by
Philip IV "The Fair" of Bourbon (1268-1314) and Pope Clement V (1264-1314) in
the first decade of the fourteenth century, but according to a Masonic legend,
the Templars survived in the highlands of Scotland and later reappeared to the
public as the Order of Freemasons. The first person to present this theory of
continuation was the Scotsman Chevalier Andrew Michael Ramsay (1686-1743) who
lived as an expatriate in Paris. Ramsay was the orator of the Lodge Le Louis
d'Argent, whose Worshipful Master was Charles Radclyffe (1693-1746). In a
famous oration given at the lodge in 1737, Ramsay stated that medieval crusaders
in the Holy Land, or Outremer, founded Freemasonry.[8]
He did not explicitly identify the crusaders who allegedly founded Freemasonry
as being the Knights Templar, but as Pierre Mollier has pointed out, the
identification of the Crusaders with the Templars was not far away.[9]

Ramsay's oration
proved to be a milestone in the development of Masonic rituals of initiation,
and soon rituals began to appear that incorporated Ramsay's thesis. It was in
the milieu of the Jacobite Parisian Lodges that the Masonic Templar Degrees
first developed, perhaps as early as 1737.[10]
The best known propagator of Templar Degrees in Germany was Baron Karl Gotthelf
von Hund (1722-1776), and it is often claimed that he had been initiated into a
Templar Degree in France in 1743.[11]
On the basis of this initiation, he set up the Rite of the Strict Observance
that consisted of three additional degrees: Scottish Master, Novice, and Knight
Templar or Knight of the Temple. The name of the Rite had "the double meaning of
following strictly the rules of the Order as well as distinguishing it from the
then current German Freemasonry ."[12]
Von Hund furthermore introduced a peculiar feature in the structure of his Rite.
namely that of the Unknown Superiors or Superiores Incogniti.[13]
These Unknown Superiors ruled, through von Hund, the Rite of the Strict
Observance. and the members of the Rite were expected to strictly observe the
decrees of these Superiors. It has been suggested that the actual head of the
Rite was none other than the young pretender Bonnie Prince Charlie, Charles
Edward Stuart (1720-1788). The political implications for Masonry (especially in
connection with the Scottish Rites) during the eighteenth century have been the
subject of much debate and speculations. While it is clear that many Jacobite
exiles were active in Masonic lodges, it remains an open question to what extent
Jacobite interests actually shaped Masonic rituals of initiation.[14]
In 1772 the Strict Observance merged with the so-called Clerics (Klerikat)
created by Johann August Starck (1741-1816), but this agreement ended in 1778.
Four year later, in 1782, the Strict Observance was officially brought to an end
at the Convent of Wilhelmsbad and replaced by the Rectified Scottish Rite (see
below).

Many of the High
Degree Rites that were founded during the eighteenth century have passed into
oblivion, but there still remain a number of important Rites to this day. The
most important of these are the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, the
Rectified Scottish Rite, and the Swedish Rite. By far the largest of these Rites
in terms of the number of initiates is the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite,
which has a total of thirty-three degrees including the three Craft Degrees.[15]
The Rite is a collection of French eighteenth-century rituals and it contains
both Ecossais and Templar Degrees.[16]
There are also other influences such as chivalry, alchemy, and Rosicrucianism.[17]
The Rosicrucian symbolism is mostly concentrated in the Eighteenth Degree,
Knight Rose-Croix, while the Twenty-Eighth Degree, Knight of the Sun, contains
alchemical symbolism.[18]
In 1801 the Scottish Rite was officially founded in Charleston, South Carolina.

RECTIFIED
SCOTTISH RITE

The Rectified
Scottish Rite was founded around 1774 by Jean-Baptiste Willermoz (1730-1824), a
silk tradesman living in Lyons.[19]
Willermoz had become a Mason in 1750 and six years later founded the lodge
Parfaite Amitie, which was constituted by the Grand Loge de France. In 1767
he was initiated into L'Ordre des Elus Coens (see below) and in 1773 into the
Rite of the Strict Observance. The rituals of the Rectified Scottish Rite
developed, from the "rather crude" rituals of the Strict Observance over some
thirty-four years from 1775 to 1809.[20]
The main object of the rituals is said to be the "progressive revelation of the
theosophical doctrine and teachings of Martines de Pasqually" who had founded
L'Ordre des Elus Coens.[21]
It seems that Willermoz remained faithful to the teachings of Martines de
Pasqually and the Elus Coens and considered them to be the key to the true
secret and object of Freemasonry. In fact, L'Ordre des Elus Coens functioned as
an inner order of the Rectified Scottish Rite, or as a "Masonry beyond Masonry".[22]
Today, the Rite is active in Switzerland, France, and Belgium, and it is
explicitly Christian in character. The majority of lodges belonging to the
Rectified Scottish Rite no longer practice the two highest degrees: Professed
and Grand Professed.[23]

SWEDISH RITE

The Swedish Rite
is the name given to a Rite practiced in Scandinavia and parts of Germany.[24]
The degree system consists of a total of eleven degrees, with the last degree
restricted to a limited number of initiates (as the case is with most Masonic
rites). The Grand Master of the Rite is called the Vicar of Solomon. This Rite
is particularly unified as a system because the rituals of the individual
degrees are closely interconnected with each other.[25]

Freemasonry was
introduced in Sweden as early as 1735 when the first lodge was established in
Stockholm by Count Axel Wrede-Sparre ( 1708-1772).[26]
Wrede-Sparre had been initiated by Charles Radclyffe (1693-1746), Earl of
Derwentwater, in Paris in 1731. Six years later in 1737, the same year that
Ramsay delivered his famous oration, Radclyffe gave the Swedish mason Carl
Fredrik Scheffer (1715-1786) a charter to open lodges in Sweden. In 1756, the
first St. Andrews Lodge, L'Innocente, was founded in Stockholm by Carl
Fredrik Eckleff(1723-1786),[27]
and it worked the Fourth and Fifth Degrees. Three years later in 1759, Eckleff
founded the first chapter, which worked the Sixth to the Ninth Degrees.[28]
These degrees eventually became part of the Swedish Rite. Eckleff was
instrumental in shaping what eventually developed into the Swedish Rite, and it
is often assumed that it was he who firmly implemented a Christian basis for the
rituals. However, the rituals were of French origin, and it was only around 1800
that Freemasonry was opened to Jews in France. It is therefore naturally assumed
in the Constitutions issued by Radclyffe that Freemasonry was to be Christian in
Sweden. Eckleff's system was further developed by Duke Carl of Sodermanland (17
48-1818), later King Carl XIII, who revised the rituals in ca. 1780 and ca.
1800.

EGYPTIAN RITES

During the latter
part of the eighteenth century a new form of Masonry appeared that was partly a
reaction against the Ecossais and the Templar Rites. This form of Masonry did
not place the origins of Freemasonry with the medieval crusades but instead in
ancient Egypt.[29]
Ever since the Renaissance, Egypt had been seen as the cradle of Western
civilization, and during the latter part of the eighteenth century a virtual "Egyptomania"
flourished.[30]
This was enhanced even more with Napoleon's military campaign in Egypt and the
vast amounts of Egyptian artefacts subsequently brought back to France by French
officers. Perhaps the most important of these objects was the Rosetta Stone that
was found in 1799 at Rosetta (Rashid), east of Alexandria. In 1822 Jean-François
Champollion managed to decipher the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs with the help
of this stone.

While Egyptian
Masonry never became a real challenge to the predominance of the other forms of
High Degree Masonry, it has remained on the fringes of regular Masonry to this
day. However, a closer look at the rituals of the Egyptian Rites, such as the
Rite of Misraim show, as Antoine Faivre has pointed out, that Egyptian Masonry
was not very Egyptian in nature.[31]
In fact, most of the rituals that were included in the Egyptian Rites, such as
the Memphis and Misraim Rites, were taken from Ecossais and Templar Rites. There
is, however, one aspect that sets Egyptian Masonry apart from the Templar and
Ecossais systems, and that is the marked prevalence of Western esoteric
influences upon the former. It is clear that the foremost propagators of
Egyptian Masonry, from the eighteenth century to the twentieth, were part of the
Western esoteric movement.

One of the
earliest propagators of Egyptian Masonry was Karl Friedrich von Koppen
(1734-1797) who founded the Order of the Afrikanische Bauherren (African
Architects) in 1767.[32]
This order was based on a short text by him and Bernhard Hymmen (1731-1787),
Crata Repoa.[33]
The authors presented an alternative history of Freemasonry in which the first
Grand Master was identified as the biblical Ham, who immigrated to Egypt and
there took the name Menes. In Egypt Menes received secret knowledge that has
been passed on and preserved by generations of Freemasons all the way to the
eighteenth century. Allegedly, the Order of the Afrikanische Bauherren
was based on this secret knowledge. The rite comprised a total of eleven degrees
divided into three groups or Temples.

Another
influential system was Cagliostro's Egyptian Rite, founded in Naples in 1777,
with a Supreme Council established in Paris in 1785.[34]
Alessandro di Cagliostro (pseudonym of Giuseppe Balsamo, 1743-1795) was one of
the most famous and charismatic adventurers of the eighteenth century. Among
other things, he claimed to have been initiated at the pyramids in Egypt, and he
asserted that he possessed the knowledge to transmute base metals into silver
and gold. Other claims included the ability to evoke spirits and that he had
lived for no less than two thousand years. In 1785 he announced that both men
and women should be entitled to the mysteries of the pyramids, and he thus
opened his Rite to women.[35]
Cagliostro's preoccupation with esoteric matters apparently found its way into
the initiatory system of his Egyptian Rite, and the Rite included alchemical
aspects, the search for a spiritual immortality, and angelic theurgy (magic
performed with the aid of beneficent spirits).[36]

The most famous of
all the Egyptian Rites, and certainly the most influential ones, were the
Misraim and Memphis Rites. The first of these Rites, the Rite of Misraim, was
founded around 1805 in Milan by the Frenchman Lechangeur (d. 1812). It is said
that his reason for founding this Rite was that he was denied access to the
higher degrees of the Scottish Rite.[37]
He therefore decided to create his own order that he claimed would be superior
to the Scottish Rite. It ispossible that there is some historical truth to this
story, as Egyptian Masonry was largely a reaction against the Ecossais and
Templar Rites. The order was called the Rite of Misraim in reference to the
legend of the order about the son of the biblical Ham, Misraim. According to
this legend, Misraim had a profound part in shaping the religion of ancient
Egypt, it was none other than Misraim who was the originator of the secret
tradition of Isis and Osiris. Furthermore, the wisdom preserved within the
sanctuary of the rite was claimed to derive from Adam, who had received it
directly from God.[38]

A few years later
the order came into the hands of three brothers from Avignon, Marc, Michael, and
Joseph Bedarride, and it was under their leadership that the order was
introduced in France in 1815. The Bedarride brothers tried to get the Rite
recognized by the ruling Masonic body in France, the Grand Orient. The Rite was
comparatively successful for a couple of years, and a number of lodges were
established throughout France. Internal strife, however, put a stop to further
expansion, and in 1817 the Supreme Council of the Rite was formally disbanded.[39]
Various lodges nevertheless continued to work the degrees of the rite. The rite
consisted of a total of ninety degrees, divided into four series, which were
further subdivided into seventeen classes. The four series were called Symbolic,
Philosophic, Mystic, and Kabbalistic.[40]

In 1833
Jacques-Etienne Marconis de Negre (1795-1868) joined the Rite of Misraim 1833 in
Paris, but he was excluded from the Rite a few months later. He then moved to
Lyons where in 1836 he founded a lodge of the Rite of Misraim, using another
name. The Bedarride brothers apparently did not suspect that the founder of this
lodge was the same person who had been excluded a few years earlier in Paris. In
May 1838, however, Marconis was expelled once again from the Rite. This time,
instead of re-joining under a different name, he set up his own Egyptian Masonic
Rite -the Rite ofMemphis.[41]
This Rite consisted of 96 degrees, with a 97th degree reserved for the head of
the Order, called the Grand Hierophant 97°.[42]
Marconis managed to set up lodges of the Rite in Paris, Belgium, and Great
Britain (where a Grand Lodge of the Rite was established). In 1856 Marconis
travelled to New York where he instituted a Grand Lodge of the rite, called the
"Disciples of Memphis". After a few years Harry J. Seymour became the head of
the rite in the U.S., and in 1867 he reformed the initiatory system of the Rite
and reduced the number of degrees from 96 to 33. A few years later, the rite was
re-imported to Europe via John Yarker (who established a Sovereign Grand
Sanctuary in 1872), and eventually formed the basis for the Ordo Templi Orientis.
In Italy, the Rite of Memphis and the Rite of Misraim merged into one system
around 1881 through the endeavours of Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882), under the
name Rite of Memphis and Misraim.[43]
There are today many organizations that claim to represent the Rites of Memphis
and Misraim.

"ESOTERIC"
FREEMASONRY

Masonic rites of a
more outspoken esoteric bent included rites and orders such as L'Orde des
Elus Coens and the Rite Ecossais philosophique, but Rosicrucian Rites
and Degrees can also be included in this category. The first of these, L'Orde
des Elus Coens, or the The Order of the Masonic Knights Elus Coens of the
Universe, was founded by the theosophist and kabbalist Martines de Pasqually
(1708/1709-1774) in the 1760s, and it included a peculiar form of theurgy mixed
with the philosophy and theosophy of its founder.[44]
Although this order possessed all the outward characteristics of a Masonic
organization, such as a hierarchical degree system, rituals of initiation, and
lodges, and employed a typical Masonic terminology, it is perhaps more fitting
to label the L'Orde des Elus Coens as a religious movement. The reason
for this is not only the peculiar religious teachings derived from Pasqually but
also the marked religious life that the members were expected to live, which is
referred to in the name of the order: "chosen priests" from the Hebrew Cohen,
meaning priest. Pasqually's teachings center around the Gnostic idea of
the Fall of Man through which humankind became separated from God. Through the
initiatory system of the order the members were expected to reverse the fall and
make an upward journey in which the seven degrees of the order (not counting the
three Craft Degrees) corresponded to the seven gifts of the Spirit. The final
goal of the initiatory process was "reintegration" a return to the primitive and
primordial state of man characterized by union with God. The theurgy employed in
the order was a means to this goal, through which divine energies were invoked
and the communion with good spirits was sought. According to Jean-François Var
this theurgy was not aimed at acquiring natural or supernatural powers, and it
was part of a religious "cult" which included a liturgy.[45]

The initiatory
system of the order consisted of a total of ten degrees, of which the
preliminary Craft Degrees were not seen as part of the Order as such. The
degrees were divided into four different classes (again, not counting the Craft
Degrees), with the degree of Reau-Croix as the highest degree that
constituted a class of its own. After the death of Pasqually in 1774, Caignet de
Lester (1725- 1778) succeeded him as leader of the order (Grand Souverain de
l'Ordre), followed by Sebastian de Las Casas in 1778. Although L'Orde des
Elus Coens was formally dissolved in 1781 it continued to have active
lodges, most notably the one in Lyons under the leadership of Willermoz.[46]

The Rite
Ecossais philosophique was the successor of an esoteric Rite called Rite
Hermetique d'Avignon, founded in 1774.[47]
According to J. A. M. Snoek:

The Rite
Hermetique was in fact created in the lodge Saint Jean d'Ecosse in

Marseille, where
some members of the lodge, which was founded in 1774

in Avignon,
received its degrees, and it was this lodge of Marseille that

constituted the
lodge Saint Jean d'Ecosse in Avignon on 31 July 1774.
[48]

In 1776 the
Rite Hermetique was exported from Avignon to Paris, where it changed its
name to Rite Ecossais philosophique. The history of the development of
the Rite Ecossais philosophique's degree system
[49] is a
complicated matter in itself, but suffice to say that the list offered in
Collectanea corresponds with a list made by Claude Antoine Thory for the rite in
1766 [sic].[50]
Obviously, the date of Thory's list is an error, since the Rite did not even
exist then.[51]
It is uncertain when the Rite was dissolved, but it probably occurred sometime
between 1844 and 1849.[52]The Rite Ecossais philosophique is a good example of the more
alchemically oriented Masonic systems of the eighteenth century as will be
evident from the rituals of the degree of True Mason or Academie des Vrais
Maçons (see appendix).

Finally, mention
should be made of the so-called Rosicrucian Degrees and Rites that also appeared
on the Masonic scene during the eighteenth century. The prime characteristic
trait of these types of degrees and Rites is that they allude in different ways
to the Rosicrucian movement of the seventeenth century. There probably never
existed a Rosicrucian Fraternity as described in the Rosicrucian manifestos, but
the idea of such a fraternity nevertheless became popular during the seventeenth
century. It did not take long before Masonry was seen as linked to
Rosicrucianism. For instance, in The Muses Threnodie (1638) the "Brethren
of the Rosie Cross" are described as being in possession of the Mason Word. It
needs to be emphasized, however, that the Masonic Rosicrucian Degrees differ
considerably both in content and in their relation to seventeenth century
Rosicrucianism. In order to simplify matters, it can be said that most (but not
all) of the Masonic Rosicrucian Degrees and Rites of the eighteenth century were
focused on alchemy, whereas later Rosicrucian Degrees and Rites are more focused
on Christian Mysticism.

One of the most
influential Masonic Rosicrucian Rites to appear on the scene was Der Orden
des Gold und Rosenkreuzes (The Order of the Gold and Rosy Cross) that was
founded at the middle of the eighteenth century in the German speaking world.
This Rite was a Masonic offshoot of an alchemical brotherhood called Der
Orden des Gulden und Rosenkreutzes (The Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross)
founded in 1710.[53]
The Rosicrucianism of Der Orden des Gold und Rosenkreuzes was heavily
infused with alchemy[54]
but there was also apolitical aspect to the Order. Many, if not most, of the
Masonic Craft Lodges of the eighteenth century cherished the ideals of the
Enlightenment, whereas the High Degree Rites often were more ambivalent as
regards these ideals. The members of Der Orden des Gold und Rosenkreuzes
were to a large extent conservative in their outlook, and the Order can be seen,
to a certain degree, as part of the anti-Aufklarung (anti-Enlightenment)
movement active in the German speaking world during the second half of the
eighteenth century.[55]

Apart from the
pursuit of alchemical knowledge, another important

characteristic
drew people to the new Rosicrucian order: its political

stance.
Rosicrucianism in the late 18th century became a rallying point

for those who were
of conservative outlook and who were opposed to

the socially
radical, rationalistic, and even anti-religious tendencies

The Order was
comparatively successful and lodges were established in the German-speaking
countries, Austria, Hungary, and northern Italy.[57]
Its success was due not only to the fact that the order functioned as a
"conservative focal point" but also because it stressed the importance of
religion in times when anti-religious sentiments were popular in certain parts
of society. Furthermore, the German character of the Order appealed to persons
of a nationalistic orientation. Last but not least, the Order claimed to possess
a secret knowledge (alchemy) that was restricted to its initiates.[58]
The initiatory system of Der Orden des Gold und Rosenkreuzes consisted of
nine degrees, and one had to be a Master Mason in order to be eligible to join
the order.[59]

Another important
Masonic Rosicrucian order is The Royal Order of Scotland, which was
founded in the middle of the eighteenth century, perhaps as early as 1741.[60]
The order fell into a twenty-year long abeyance from 1819 to 1839, but it
recuperated and is today a relatively large rite with numerous Provincial Grand
Lodges.[61]
It was established in the United States in 1877 with the prolific Masonic author
Albert Pike (1809-1891) as its first Provincial Grand Master. It consists of two
high degrees: the Order of Heredom of Kilwinning, and the Knights of the Rosy
Cross. The first of these two degrees gives further explanations of the three
Craft Degrees, while that of the Knights of the Rosy Cross is characterized by
Christian mysticism veiled in Rosicrucian symbolism. According to a legendary
history of the Order,[62]
the Royal Order of Scotland was founded by King Robert the Bruce {1274-1329) in
1314 to commemorate the assistance he received at the battle of Bannockburn on
June 24, 1314, from sixty-three Knights Templar. The Knights Templar had showed
up unexpectedly at a crucial point of the battle and assisted Robert the Bruce
to defeat the English forces of Edward II (1284-1327). The defeat ensured the
independence of Scotland until the Union of 1707.

The Eighteenth
Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Rite, Rose-Croix of Heredom, Knight of
the Pelican and Eagle, is probably the most well known and practiced of all the
Masonic Rosicrucian Degrees. Even though the history of this degree reaches back
to the middle of eighteenth-century France, it differs considerably in content
from other eighteenth century Masonic Rosicrucian Rites such as Der Orden des
Gold und Rosenkreuzes.[63]
In 1768 a Masonic body was founded in Paris which called itself the First
Sovereign Chapter Rose Croix, and in the statutes that it issued a year later it
is stated that "The knights of Rose Croix are called knights of the Eagle, of
the Pelican, Sovereigns of Rose Croix, perfect Prince Masons free of Heredon."[64]
The Eagle and the Pelican are symbols of Christ, which alludes to the Christian
nature of the degree. The name Heredon, more commonly spelled as
Heredom (and sometimes as Harodim[65]), is the
name given to a mythical mountain supposed to exist north of Kilwinning,
Scotland.[66]
According to a Masonic myth, associated particularly with Ecossais Masonry, the
Masons were driven away from Jerusalem after the destruction of the Temple of
Jerusalem and subsequently found their way to this mountain in Scotland. They
remained on this mountain until the time of the Crusades.

Rosicrucian
degrees thus fall into two main categories, alchemical and Christian, but it
needs to be emphasized that there are no clear-cut borders between the two
categories. Furthermore, alchemical degrees of the eighteenth century are not by
necessity Rosicrucian, as is evidenced by the True Mason, or Academie des
Vrais Maçons, in the appendix.

CONCLUDING
REMARKS

The High Degrees
of Freemasonry were enormously successful and a large number of rites were
established during the eighteenth century. A number of these Rites, such as the
Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite and the Swedish Rite, are active to this day.
Others, such as Der Orden des Gold und Rosenkreuzes, ceased to exist a
long time ago. Perhaps the most striking characteristic of this form of ritual
is its diversity, which includes such types as Chivalric, Templar, Ecossais, and
Egyptian High Degrees. Their common denominator is that, in various ways, they
contain elaborations of the Craft Degree rituals. Furthermore, it is
particularly in certain types of High Degrees that Western esotericism is
explicitly transmitted. As an example of such a ritual, I analyzed in the
appendix the True Mason of the Rite Ecossais philosophique, which in
essence contains a complete exposition of eighteenth century alchemy. In the
nineteenth century the more outspoken esoteric High Degree systems, such as the
Rites of Memphis and Misraim, the Antient and Primitive Rite, and the
Swedenborgian Rite existed on the fringes of the Masonic world, but many of
these would -in various ways- survive into the twentieth century and continue to
exist even to this day.

APPENDIX

True Mason, or Academie des Vrais Maçons

EIGHTH DEGREE OF THE HERMETIC RITE

The following
ritual from the Rite Ecossais philosophique is a representative example
of a French High Degree ritual of the latter part of the eighteenth century. I
have used the rituals translated in Collectanea, vol. 6, part 3 (1957),
as my primary source for the True Mason ritual. As a ritual, the Degree of a
True Mason, or Academie des Vrais Maçons, is not particularly elaborate
or impressive. Nevertheless, it includes parts that are deeply saturated with
Western esotericism, particularly in the form of alchemy and, to a lesser
extent, Kabbalah.[67]
These parts are concentrated in a discourse delivered by the Senior Sage or
Surveillant, in the explanation of the tracing board and in the instruction that
is in the form of a catechism.

The ritual takes
place in a lodge, called the Academy, and it is performed by three main
officers, called Most Wise,[68]
and Senior and Junior Sages, respectively. The Academy is illuminated by three
candles placed on the tracing-board. The dominant colors of the ritual are
black, white, and red; the walls are draped in black, there should be white and
red columns, the gloves and the cordons should be white, black, and red.[69]
Given the alchemical nature of this ritual, these colors probably refer to the
three stages of the alchemical process: Nigredo, Albedo, and Rubedo.

The Academy is
opened in the ordinary fashion of Masonic rituals of initiation. That is, the
chief officer, in this case the Most Wise, asks the two Surveillants or Sages
whether the lodge room is properly guarded and if all present are True Masons.
The Academy is then proclaimed opened, and one of the brethren, called Sage
Academicians, is asked to give a lecture on a chosen subject. It is then
announced by the Senior Surveillant that a reception is to be made: "Most Wise,
there is a philosopher Mason in the preparation chamber, whom the Academy has
deemed worthy of being admitted among us".[70]

The candidate, who
has been waiting in a chamber of preparation,[71]
is divested of all metals, and has his hat, coat, and shoes removed. The sleeves
of his shirt are rolled up, his hands are tied behind his back, and finally he
is blindfolded. After the usual questions and knock on the door, the candidate
is admitted to the lodge room where he is led to the West, facing the Most Wise
in the East. There is an "earthenware vessel, into which are poured wine
spirits, mercury, and salt. These are to be lighted and furnish the only
illumination on the academy."[72]
The candidate is asked what he desires, and after answering that he wants to be
admitted to the Academy, if he is found worthy, the Academicians indicate their
consent to his request by rapping once on the floor with their rods, which they
are holding.

The candidate is
then, in the customary fashion of Masonic rituals, led around the lodge. These
perambulations, which are three in number, are made in a circle, a square, and a
triangle. When the perambulations are completed, the blindfold is removed, and
the candidate is caused to see the earthen vessel with the fire. After four
minutes, he is conducted to the foot of the throne of the Most Wise, and there
caused to kneel. The candidate then takes the obligation in this kneeling
position. This obligation is a comparatively short and simple one:

I, ...., promise
on my word of honor, and under penalty of having

my lips sealed and
my bowels cut open, never to reveal either directly or

indirectly, to
anyone at all, and under any pretext, the mysteries which I

will behold, and
may the Great Jehovah be my strong and holy guide.[73]

The candidate is
then declared a True Mason by the Most Wise, and instructed in the traditional
secrets of the degree: the sacred word, the password, the name, the grip, the
age, the step, and finally the battery. Of these secrets, perhaps the most
significant are the sacred word and the password, Jehovah and Metralon,[74]
respectively. The Most Wise proceeds to present the candidate with the apron,
gloves, and a wand. The candidate is led to the tracing-board, where he gives a
discourse that he has prepared beforehand. When the candidate has finished his
discourse, the Most Wise responds with a discourse ofhis own. This discourse
begins by stating that the Degree of True Mason was created at the time when God
brought order out of chaos, and that the degree includes the principles of all
other degrees. There have been many Adepts over the centuries, but some of them
have been led astray. The profane who criticize that which they do not
understand, "who are lacking a keen mind and industrious hand, ...will lose for
themselves all the joys of discovery and labor, and scorn all that they do not
possess, power of imagination, and courage of doing". The Most Wise continues
by urging the brethren to abandon the profane, or "these off-springs of
darkness" and enemies to their own hatred of their vain and inconsequential
idea.

For us true
children of light, and sincere friends of humanity, who see

in those
instructions and the practice, the clear announcement of truth,

The discourse ends
with a promise that the brethren will guide and help the candidate in "the
science" by explaining the obstacles placed in his path and assisting him in his
studies. There is also an exhortation to follow in the footsteps of "that great
man, whose presence is so dear and useful to us, and whose memory will always be
precious to us". One plausible suggestion is that this refers to Hiram, or
perhaps Christ. Upon the completion of the discourse, the Senior Surveillant
proceeds to explain the symbolism of the tracing-board.

You will see
first, wise academician, in the upper part of the tableau a

radiant and
capital "J" in the middle.

The triangle
represents God in the three persons, and the capital "J" is

the initial of the
ineffable name of the Great Architect of the Universe.[76]

The ineffable name
of the Great Architect indicated by the letter J is, of course,
Jehovah, the sacred word of the degree. As discussed in chapter four of my
book Western Esotericism & Rituals of Initiation, Jehovah, is the old
Master's Word that was lost at the time of Hiram's death.

The shadowy circle
signifies the world which God created; the cross

within it
represents the light by means of which He will develop it.

The square, the
four elements which developed in it.

The triangle, the
three principles, which the mixture of the four elements produced.

The circle is
surrounded by the waters which God has placed above the firmament.[77]

The reference to
the cross is one of the few direct references to Christianity to be found in the
ritual. The passage also explains why the perambulations that the candidate had
to undergo during the ritual were in the shape of a circle, square, and a
triangle. The four elements refer, of course, to the antique idea that all
matter is constituted by four elements, namely earth, water, air, and fire.[78]
This idea continued as a basic component of alchemical theory long after
orthodox science had discarded it. The three principles refer to the alchemical
principles of sulphur, mercury, and salt (discussed later).

The starry circle
designates the firmament.

The other circle
with the signs and the planets represents the Zodiac.[79]

According to the
Ptolemaic world-view, the earth is the center of the universe, and around this
center there are seven planetary spheres in which the seven planets of antiquity
(the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) move. The
movement of the planets was considered to be caused by the Primum Mobile,
located either at, or beyond, the firmament of the stars. It is this firmament
that is referred to in the passage above.

The cross which
surmounts them signifies that as God through his great

power created the
universe, so through his beneficence he redeemed it.

The four figures
which surround it are the emblems of the atmosphere

and the four
winds.

Man, the sun, the
plants which one sees on the surface of the earth are

the image of the
three divisions of nature, that is, the animal, the mineral

and the vegetable,
which through the medium of the primal fire and

of the central
fire, that the great architect placed in continual agitation,

It is specifically
stated in the by-laws of the degree that no mason may be admitted, without being
"Christian, pious, discreet and wise".[81]
Although the Christian elements of the ritual are almost non-existent, it is
significant to note that as a rule, High Degree systems tend to be limited to
Christian members. It is therefore quite natural to find a reference to the
cross in the ritual. Further, the division of nature into the animal, mineral,
and vegetable worlds derives from Aristotle. The primal and central fires most
likely refer to the two different types of fire often encountered in alchemical
literature.[82]

The two uppermost
letters signify that God created those which stand

below; that nature
produces and that art multiplies.

On the altar of
perfumes, we note the me which is given to matter; the two

towers are the two
furnaces, wet and dry, through which we must travel.

The tube which is
in the furnaces, serves to give the temperature of

the fire produced
by charcoal of oak trees. The fire will well consume the

philosopher's
stone. Below we see the rod for stirring the fire.

And the two
figures surmounted by across, are nothing other than

the two vases of
nature and of that royal art, in which one may cause a

This part of the
explanation of the tracing-board is entirely devoted to alchemical imagery. The
two furnaces, described as wet and dry, through which "we must travel" is a
direct reference to the alchemical formula of Solve et Coagula (dissolve
and coagulate), discussed below. The furnace itself is an important symbol, as
it is thought that the metal undergoes its mortification and subsequent
purification within a furnace, or athanor as it is usually called. The
furnace is furthermore often identified with the fire that causes the
mortification of the metal. It is significant that the coal is specified as
being of oak trees, as the oak is a name for the philosophical tree.[84]
The philosophical tree symbolizes the entire alchemical process, from base metal
to gold, or from unenlightened to enlightened soul. The philosopher's stone is
probably the most well known of all alchemical symbols, and its primary import
is the completion or the crowning of the alchemical work. As such, it is
considered to possess a number of qualities, such as the ability to transmute
metals, cure diseases, prolong life, and to rejuvenate. "Royal art" was the name
given to alchemy (but as shown in chapter 4 of Western Esotericism & Rituals
of Initiation, it was also a name given to Freemasonry), as gold was
considered to be the royal metal. A further reference to the "royal" nature of
the alchemical process is the "most powerful king" that will be born out of the
marriage between the "white woman" and the "red servant". The white woman and
the red servant stand for the female and male principles, respectively. The king
is another symbol for the philosopher's stone-the goal of the alchemical quest.

Completion of the
explanation of the tracing-board is followed by the instruction, which is in the
form of a catechism. In eighteenth-century French Masonic rituals, catechisms
used to be practiced at the end of the ritual (just before closing the lodge),
or at the table lodge after the initiation. Be that as it may, the instruction
is of utmost importance as it not only touches upon symbols encountered in the
ritual, but more importantly also shows exactly the kind of alchemy with which
the members of the degree were expected to be familiar.

Hermes was, of
course, seen as the mythical founding father of alchemy, and the above question
can therefore be interpreted as that the candidate, being an alchemist, is
thereby a "child" of Hermes.[86]

Q. Did you receive
the light?

A. Verily, Most
Wise, the three principles were explained to me.

Q. Do you know how
to proceed with your labors?

A. Verily, Most
Wise, I know how to stir with the rod, to manipulate the

Receiving the
light is a recurrent theme in Masonic rituals of initiation, but in this context
the light probably refers to the knowledge of the alchemical process, as the
answer indicates that the light is connected to the knowledge of the three
principles. The three principles, in their turn, refer to the three alchemical
principles sulphur, mercury, and salt. The manipulation of the materials, or
metals, is a direct allusion to the practice of alchemy. Furthermore, the
sealing of the vapors from escape is a reference to the usage of hermetically
sealed vessels in alchemy.

Q. What is the
significance of the ten knocks you gave on your entry into

the academy?

A. It is the
perfect number.

Q. Why do you say
that ten is the perfect number?

A. Because ten
comprehends all the faith and unity of God by whom all

was created, as
well as chaos from which all that exists, was produced.

Furthermore, he
who would be quite happy to understand that which is

the basic number
of formal arithmetic, and to understand the nature of

the prime
spherical number which is the half of the ten, will know, says

Pic de Mirandole,
the secret of the fifty doors of learning of the great

fifty years of
this generation, as well as the ruler of similar cycles, which

In Christian and
Jewish Kabbalah alike, the number ten is seen as a "perfect number" as it
contains God's entire creation in the form of the ten Sephiroth. The reference
to "Ensopht" constitutes the unlimited Godhead, Ain Soph, from which the Tree of
Life with its ten Sephiroth emanates. Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494)
was the first to seek evidence in the Kabbalah for the "truth" of Christianity,
and thus inspired later kabbalists such as Johannes Reuchlin. Pico included his
Kabbalistic arguments for the authenticity of christianity in his
Conclusiones (1486), a collection of nine hundred questions and answers.[89]
The book was, however, suppressed by the pope.

Q. Explain the
meaning of your jewel, the colors of the ribbon as well as

what is attached;
the cross and the two letters on the flap of you apron;

as well as the sun
in the center; the letters which are on the two sides and

the two red
stripes with which it is bordered.

A. The jewel is
the representation of mercury, sulphur and salt. The colors

of the ribbon and
gloves represent the three principal colors which are

apparent in the
civil government.

The cross on the
flap of the apron is the Light, the two letters represent

the True Mason.

The sun represents
gold, the two letters, the meaning already given.

Finally the
poppy-red color with which the apron is bordered designates

The reference to
the three colors black, white and red refers to the three stages in the
alchemical process: Nigredo, Albedo, and Rubedo.[91]
In the initial or black state the impure metal is killed or putrefied, that is,
it is dissolved into its original form, or Prima Materia. According to
alchemical theory, there can be no regeneration without corruption, no life
without death. This state of dissolution, or mortification, is often symbolized
in alchemical imagery with symbols of death and corruption, such as skeletons,
skulls, and coffins. In the second or white phase the blackened matter is
purified by the mercurial water, the universal agent of transmutation. "The body
has been whitened and spiritualized (that is, the fixed is volatilized) and the
soul has been prepared to receive illumination from the spirit. This is the
stage at which the alchemist achieves the white stone and the white elixir which
has the power to transmute all imperfect metals to silver".[92]
This stage can also be interpreted as the spirit's separation from the body,
which will reunite when the body is purified and made pure and spotless. This
stage is often symbolized by things pure, white, or silver, such as the moon,
snow, and virgins. Finally, in the third or red stage, the spirit is reunited
with the white matter. This union is often described as a "chemical wedding",
and upon its completion the desirable Philosophers' Stone is achieved. Images
such as red lions, basilisks, red roses, and the sun often symbolize the
Rubedo phase of the opus alchymicum.[93]

Q. Do you know how
to make the universal matter?

A. I do, Most
Wise.

Q. From what do
you produce it?

A. Eternal and
internal fire.

Q. What does it
result in?

A. The four
elements, which are said to be the main principles.

Q. What are they?

A. Fire, air,
water and earth.

Q. What are their
qualities?

A. Heat, drought,
cold and moisture, the first two coupled with the latter

two, bring to the
earth the drought and cold.

Water has cold and
moisture.

Air has moisture
and heat, fire has heat and drought, which are all

united on earth,
because the elements are circulated like the wind of our

As Lyndy Abraham
states, the idea of the four elements was derived from Empedocles (494-432 B.C.)
and Plato's Timaeus (ca. 360 B.C.), but came to alchemy through
Aristotle's theories of matter.[95]
All matter ultimately derives from a prima materia, and the four elements
are the forms in which it manifests itself.[96]
The four elements are not simply the ordinary fire, air, water, and earth in
nature, but abstract principles that emanate from the prima materia. The
alchemical process of transmutation, or opus alchymicum, is based on the
fundamental theory that all material objects and matter consist of various
proportions of the four elements and that these proportions can be manipulated.
However, in order to cause this manipulation, it is first necessary to "kill"
(the Nigredo phase) the original form of the matter one wishes to
transmute. The answer to the question of what the qualities of the four elements
are, displays further familiarity with basic concepts of alchemy: there are four
qualities connected to the elements -hot, dry, cold, and moist.[97]
Each of the elements has two of these qualities: fire has hot and dry; air has
hot and moist; water has cold and moist; and finally earth has cold and dry.

Q. What does the
mxture [sic] of the four elements and their four qualities

of which
everything is formed, produce?

A. The three main
principles.

Q. What names are
given them?

A. Mercury,
sulphur and salt.

Q. What do you
mean by mercury, sulphur and salt?

A. The
philosophical, and not the commonly known, mercury, sulphur

and salt.

Q. What is the
philosophical mercury?

A. It is a liquid
and spirit which dissolves and refines the sun.

Q. What is
philosophical sulphur?

A. It is fire and
a spirit which destroys and colors that fire.

Q. What is
philosophical salt?

A. It is a mineral
and a substance which congeals and fixes, and accom-

The three main
principles of metals mentioned above were first proposed by Paracelsus
(Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, 1493-1541).[99]
According to this theory, all metals are constituted by three main principles:
mercury (the spirit), sulphur (the soul), and salt (the body).[100]
Mercury and salt, or spirit and body, are seen as two contraries that are united
by the mediating principle of sulphur, that is, the soul. Paracelsus' theory of
the tria prima, or the first three principles, differs from earlier
medieval alchemy in which the metals were considered to derive from two
principles, namely sulphur and mercury.[101]
Sulphur was considered to be the male principle, or hot, dry, and active seed,
whereas mercury was seen as the feminine principle with its cold, moist, and
passive qualities. These two principles were connected to the well-known
alchemical formula of Solve et Coagula (dissolve and coagulate). This
formula, known already by the Greek alchemists, illustrates the fundamental
practice of alchemy; that is, the converting of a solid body into a fluid
substance (solve), and the opposite process of turning a fluid into a dry
solid body (coagula). The process was to be repeated time and again, and
each time the matter to be transmuted was considered to become purer. Mercury
was connected to the solve aspect of the formula and was thus attributed
to the power of dissolving fixed matter; while sulphur was considered to possess
the power of fixing and coagulating the volatile substance, and thus to be
connected to the second, or coagula, part of the formula. Furthermore, the
mercury often encompassed the two elements of water and earth, while sulphur
encompassed air and water.

Q. How are these
obtained from three principles?

A. The four
elements redoubled, as Hermes said, or the great elements,

accordingly to
Raymond Lully, which are Mercury, sulphur, salt and glass.

The former two act
like volatiles, the one being like water and the other

like air (or oil),
and flee fire which causes the one to be driven off and

the other to be
consumed. The remaining two substances however being

solid and dry, are
not affected by fire. The salt defies the heat of fire

while glass, or
pure earth is not affected except to be melted and refined.

Because each
element has two qualities the great or redoubled elements,

that is to say,
mercury, sulphur, salt and glass consist of two of the simple

elements, or in
other words, each of the four has two elements in different

proportions.
Mercury has more water than is usually attributed to it;

oil or sulphur,
more air; the salt has more fire; and glass has more earth.

Earth is at last
found pure and clean at the center of all the elementary

It is significant
that not only the spiritual advantage of alchemy is mentioned but also the
material one. This shows that the alchemy taught by the Rite Ecossais
philosophique to its initiates was not merely of a spiritual character, but
of a "chemical" nature as well.

Q. Has not each of
these sciences something which is appropriate and

particular to it?

A. Pardon me, Most
Wise, the one is common and trivial and the other

mystical and
secret. The invisible world of our theology is cabalistic,

celestial,
astrological and magical, while the elementary is physiological

and chemical,
which reveals by these discoveries and the separations of

fire, the mosa [
sic] hidden and occult secrets of nature of the three kinds

of compositions.
We also call this latter science hermetic, or the

operation of the
great work.

Q. What are the
sources where one may search for this latter science?

A. The purest are
Hermes Trismegistus, Arnold de Villenaeue; Raymond

Lully, Gaber,
Basil Valentine, Bernard Count of Trevisan, Nicholas

Flamel, the
Philalethes, the Cosmopolitan, the President of the Espagnet

The names referred
to as sources for the alchemical science are all well known and influential
alchemical authors.

HERMES
TRISMEGISTUS is of course the mythical author of the Corpus Hermeticum
which was first translated into Latin by Marsilio Ficino in 1471. During the
Renaissance, however, Hermes also became known as an adept of alchemy, and a
number of alchemical texts were attributed to him, of which the Tabula
Smaragdina or Emerald Tablet is perhaps the most famous. This short
text contains the famous dictum "As above, so below," illustrating the esoteric
doctrine that man is a microcosm corresponding to the macrocosm.[105]

ARNAU DE VILANOVA
(1240-1311) was a physician who translated medical works by authors such as
Galen, Avicenna, and Albuzale into Latin, and he is generally seen as a
representative medieval Galenism. Even though it is not ascertained whether or
not Vilanova actually practiced alchemy, there are many legends about him that
connect him with the practice of alchemy.[106]
According to one such legend Vilanova is supposed to have performed his first
transmutation in Rome in 1286. There are a number of alchemical works ascribed
to him, such as Epistola super alchemia ad regem Neapolitanum or De
secretis naturae and Exempla de arte philosophorum, but these are
probably apocryphal. The first collected edition of his works was published at
Lyons in 1504.

RAYMOND LULLY, or
Ramon Llull, (1232-1316) was a Catalan mystic who developed a mysticism combined
to a certain extent with Christian mysticism, Sufism, and Neoplatonism. The
alchemical works ascribed to him are probably all apocryphal and include titles
such as Apertorium artis, L' Epistre de l'abbreviation de la pierre benoiste,
Clavicula Raymundi Lullii,[107]
and Comendiurn animae transmutationis artis metallorum.[108]
Alchemical works ascribed to Llull began to circulate during the middle of the
fourteenth century and these pseudo-Llullian works later became standard
features in the alchemical corpus. In addition to alchemy, Llull's name also
became associated with magic and Kabbalah with works such as De auditu
cabbalistico attributed to him.[109]

The alchemical
works of GEBER were extremely influential, and his theory of sulphur and mercury
was predominant until Paracelsus modified it in the beginning of the sixteenth
century. Works attributed to Geber include Of the investigation or search of
perfection and Of the sum of perfection, or of the perfect magistery.[110]
The name Geber is taken from the Arab scholar Jabir ibn Hayyan (ca. 721-ca.
815).

BASILIUS
VALENTINUS was supposed to have been a fifteenth century Benedictine monk, to
whose name a number of alchemical tractates are ascribed.

The most
influential of these are Die Zwolf Schlussel, or Twelve Keyes,[111]
first published in 1599, and The Triumphant Chariot of Antimony (1604),
first published in English in 1660. The true identity of Basilius Valentinus has
not been settled, but it has been suggested that he was a late sixteenth century
author, possibly the first publisher of Valentinus' works, Johann Tholde.

BERNARD OF
TREVISAN, the Earl of Treviso in Italy, or Trevisanus (b. ca. 1460) was another
early influential alchemist, whose works include La parole delaissee
(1618), Le Text d'Alchymie et le Songe-Verd (1695), and Treatise of
the Philosophers Stone (1684).[112]

NICOLAS FLAMEL
(1330-1418) was a public writer and artisan who after his death became regarded
as an alchemist, who together with his wife, Perrenelle, supposedly succeeded in
transmuting mercury into gold in 1382. The reason that Flamel came to be
regarded as an alchemist probably stems from the fact that he left a large
legacy after his death and because he had ordered certain allegorical motifs to
be painted on arcades at the cemetery of the Holy Innocents.[113]
According to the legend, he had bought a rare manuscript entitled the "Book of
Abraham the Jew," in the ritual referred to as the "figures of Abraham the Jew."
This manuscript allegedly contained seven emblematic drawings that outlined the
alchemical process. A number of versions of what claim to be Abraham's figures
have been published called the Hieroglyphic Figures of Flamel.[114]

The PHILALETHES
can refer to either Eugenius Philalethes, or to Eirenaeus Philalethes -but it is
more likely that the reference is to the former, as the "Cosmopolitan," which is
also mentioned in the ritual, is another name for the latter. Eugenius
Philalethes was the pseudonym of Thomas Vaughan (1621-1665),[115]
well known for his translation of the Fame and Confession of the Fraternity
of the R. C. published in 1652. His alchemical works include
Anthroposophia Theomagica, Anima Magica Abscondita, and Magia Adamica,
all three first published in 1650.[116]
Vaughan's alchemical writings were influential not only in England, but on the
Continent as well, and his works were translated into French, German and Latin.
The emphasis of his alchemical work is more on the spiritual, or metaphysical,
side than on the purely physical. As such, the alchemy of Vaughan can, at least
to a certain extent, be seen as a form of mysticism. Eirenaeus Philalethes, on
the other hand, was probably the pseudonym of the influential scientist George
Starkey (1628-1665). Starkey was born in Bermuda and educated at Harvard
College. In 1650 he immigrated to London in order to collaborate with one of the
most important persons in the development of modern chemistry -Robert Boyle
(1627-1691).[117]
The alchemy of Starkey (if indeed he is the true author behind the name of
Eirenaeus Philalethes) differs considerably from that of his namesake Eugenius
Philalethes in that it focuses on the physical or chemical aspect of the
alchemical work.[118]

JEAN D'ESPAGNET
(ca. 1564-1637) was an influential alchemist, and is quoted at length by Joseph
Pernety in his Les Fables Egyptiennes et Grecques (1786). His alchemical
works include La Philosophie Naturelle and Arcanum Hermeticae,
both of which were included in the influential collection Bibliotheca Chemica
Curiosa (1702).[119]

Finally, we have
COUNT MICHAEL MAIER (1569-1622), the German alchemist and Rosicrucian apologist.
Maier moved in high circles and was, among other things, the confidant of the
Emperor Rudolph II and a frequent attendee at the court of James I. His most
famous alchemical treatise, considered to be a classic of alchemical literature,
is Atalanta Fugiens published in 1618. The work contains fifty emblematic
figures illustrating the alchemical process.[120]

When the
instruction is done, the ritual ends in the following manner:

The most wise then
says: Behold, wise Academician, what the senior

Surveillant and I
have to say for your instruction. We urge that you study

diligently, and we
wish you much happiness in all that you do, and wish

you a rapid
progress in that science which is the sole and honorable aim

The lodge is then
ritually closed, and as a last act all present say together: "Glory, laud and
honor to the Creator; peace, benediction and prosperity to true Masons!"[122]

The ritual of True
Mason is an excellent example of how alchemical doctrines are transmitted
through a Masonic ritual of initiation. The alchemical doctrines transmitted,
especially during the explanation of the tracing board and the instruction,
summarize in a condensed form the most important symbols and theories of
eighteenth-century alchemy.[123]
Furthermore, the list of alchemical authors at the end of the ritual contains
the most celebrated and influential names in alchemical literature. As such, the
ritual of the True Mason was truly initiatic in the sense that it initiated its
adepts in the Arcanum of alchemy. This would naturally depend on whether or not
the candidate already was familiar with alchemy.

NOTES

[1] In
Masonic literature Rite is often used synonymously with system and the
French regime. For a good overview of the large number of Masonic Rites,
see Daniel Ligou, Dictionnaire de la Franc-Mafonnerie (Paris: Presses
Universitaires de France, 1987), pp. 1021-35. For modern Anglo-Saxon
high degrees, see Keith B. Jackson, Beyond the Craft (London: Lewis
Masonic, 1980).

[2] The
history of high degrees and rites of the eighteenth century is a
notoriously difficult subject, so I will limit this introduction to a
mere historical outline. It should, however, be noted that a large part
of the literature dealing with this subject is outdated due to recent
research. Examples of such outdated literature are James F. Smith, "The
Rise of the Ecossais Degrees". Proceedings of the Ohio Chapter of
Research, vol. 10 (Dayton, Oh.: Otterbein Press, 1965); Arthur E. Waite,
Templar Orders in Freemasonry (Edmonds, Wash.: Sure Fire Press, 1991);
and, to a lesser extent, Rene Le Forestier, La Franc-Maçonnerie
Templiere et Occultiste aux XVIIIe et XIXe Siecles (Paris: Aubier-Montaigne,
1970).

[11] Up
till recently, it was assumed that the claim that von Hund had been
initiated into a Templar degree in France was a fabrication. However,
new findings have shown

that there
actually existed a Templar degree in France prior to the formation of
the Rite of the Strict Observance. For information on this ritual, see
Kervella and Lestienne, "Un haut-grade templier;' Renaissance
Traditionelle. See also Snoek, "Herault's Ritual."

[13] The
inclusion of Unknown Superiors is a recurrent feature in many later
western esoteric societies and orders. For instance, the Mahatmas of the
Theosophical Society; the Secret Chiefs of the Hermetic Order of the
Golden Dawn, the A :. A :. (usually understood as the Order of the
Silver Star or Argenteum Astrum); and even the new religious movement
Order of the Solar Temple.

[14] The
Jacobite interest in Freemasonry did not prevent the Catholic Church
from taking a negative position against Freemasonry. In 1738 and 1751
two papal bulls were issued against Freemasonry: In Eminenti Apostolatus
Specula of Clemens XII and Providas Romanorum Pontificum of Benedict
XIV: For the text of In Eminenti in Latin and English see Alec Mellor,
Our Separated Brethren the Freemasons (London: Geoerge G. Harap, 1964),
pp. 156-60.

[16] The
Scottish Rite contains more Ecossais degrees than Templar ones; only the
30° and 32° are Templar.

[17]
Chivalric themes can be found in the 15°, Knight of the East or Sword,
and in the 21°, Noachite or Prussian Knight. For a Masonic
interpretation of the rituals of the Scottish Rite, see Albert Pike,
Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of
Freemasonry (Washington, D.C.: Supreme Council, 33°, 1871), and Henry
Clausen, Clausens Commentaries on Morals and Dogma (Washington, D.C.:
Supreme Council, 33°, 1974).

[18] For
more information on the Knight of the Sun Degree, see Pierre Mollier,
"Le Chevalier du Soleil: Contribution a l'etude d'un haut-grade
maçonnique en France

[28] The
fourth degree was later split into two degrees -Apprentice of St. Andrew
(IV°) and Companion of St. Andrew (V°) -for a total of ten degrees.

[29]
That the origins of Freemasonry might be found in ancient Egypt was
hinted at before Egyptian Masonry as such appeared on the scene. See,
for instance, Anonymous, Le Sceau Rompu (1745), in Carr, Early French
Exposures, p. 208.

[30] See
Ian Assman, Moses the Egyptian: The Memory of Egypt in Western
Monotheism (Cambridge, Mass., London: Harvard University Press, 1997);
Erik Hornung, The Secret Lore of Egypt: Its Impact on the West (Ithaca
and London: Cornell University Press, 2001); Paul Rich & David Merchant,
"The Egyptian Influence on Nineteenth-Century Freemasonry;' Heredom,
vol. 9 (2001), pp. 33-51.

[33] Karl
Friedrich von Koppen and Bernhard Hymmen Crata Repoa. Oder Einweyhungen
in der alten geheimen Gesellschaft der Egyptischen Preister, ([Berlin] :
1770 ). Even though the text was not published
unti11770, it was circulated in manuscript form prior to its
publication. An English translation of the text was serialized in The
Kneph: Official Journal of the Antient and Primitive Rite of Masonry,
vol. 2, nos. 15-22 (1882).

[34]
DGWE, p. 225. For an English translation of these rituals, see
"Cagliostro's Egyptian Rite;' Collectanea, vol. 5, part 2, (1954), pp.
165-215.

[38] Eugen
Lennhoff and Oskar Posner, Internationales Freimaurerlexikon (Zurich,
Leipzig, Wien: Amalthea- Verlag, 1932) pp. 1,044-45. Collectanea, vol. 6, part 1 (1955), p. 17 gives
another explanation of the name of the rite: "the Rite of Misraim, so
called because its legend goes back to the ancient Egyptian King, Menes,
who was also known as Mizraim".

[47] It
is often stated that Dom Antoine Joseph Pernety (1716-1796) was the
founder not only of the Rite Hermetique d'Avignon, but also of the Rite
Ecossais philosophique. Modern scholarship, however, contest this
assumption. See Snoek, "Swedenborg,» (2003), p. 28-32.

[53] For
more information on Der Orden des Gulden und Rosenkreutzes see chapter
six of Christopher McIntosh, The Rosicrucians: The History, Mythology
and Rituals of an Occult Order (York Beach, Me.: Samuel Weiser, 1997).

[54]
For an introduction to the alchemy of Der Orden des Gold und
Rosenkreuzes see Christopher McIntosh, "The Alchemy and the Gold und
Rosenkreuz;' in Z. R. W. M. von Martels (ed. ) Alchemy Revisited:
Proceedings of the International Conference on the History of Alchemy at
the University of Groningen 17-19 April 1989 (Leiden, New York: E.J.
Brill, 1990), pp 237-44.

[55]
Christopher Mcintosh showed in The Rose Cross and the Age of Reason
(Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1992) that the relationship of Der Orden des Gold
und Rosenkreuzes to the anti-Aufklarung (anti-Enlilghtenment) movement
is more complicated than first meets the eye.

[59] For
a description of the second degree ritufll (Theoreticus), see Mcintosh,
The Rosicrucians, pp. 72-74.

[60]
Alain Bernheim, "The Order of Kilwinning or Scotch Heredom, the Present
Royal Order of Scotland:' Heredom, vol. 8 (1999/2000), p. 94.

[61]
For information on the history of R.O.S., see R. S. Lindsay, ed. A. J.
B. Milborne, The Royal Order of Scotland (Perthshire, Scotland: Wm.
Culross & Son, 1970; 2nd ed., 1972), and George Draffen of Newington,
The Royal Order of Scotland -The Second Hundred Years (Edinburgh: Howie
& Seath, 1977). Alain Bernheim, "The Order of Kilwinning or Scotch
Heredom, the Present Royal Order of Scotland". Heredom.. vol. 8
(1999/2000), pp. 93-130.

[62] The
legendary history is mentioned in the ritual of the order. The Royal
Order of Scotland (N.P.: N.P., N.D. [1910?]), p. 53.

[63] For
information on the history of the Rose-Croix of Heredom, Knight of the
Pelican and Eagle Degree, see Jackson, Rose Croix, pp. 24-30.

[67]
Collectanea, vol. 6, part 3 (1957), pp. 207-26. I have checked the printed English translation
against a French manuscript version of the ritual; KloSS XXVI.3, GON
193. C.68, Academie des Vrais Maçons. I am
indebted to J. A. M. Snoek for a transcript of this manuscript.

[69]
The English translation states, "the apron should be embroidered, also
in gold, the following three sets of letters, C.D., N .P., A.M:' The
French manuscript, however state that the letters should be D C N PAM
(Dew Creat Natura Producit Ars Multiplicat).

[71] The
preparation room is usually called a Chamber of Reflection, which is
often totally dark. In French rituals there are usually tWo rooms: the
"Chambre de preparation" and the "Chambre obscure:' After being prepared
(that is, addressed and properly clothed) in the first one, the
candidate is placed in the second room in order to meditate. Usually
there is a candle burning there.

[74]
According to Kloss XXVI.3, GON 193.C.68, the password is Mitraton.
However, both Metralon and Mitraton are probably corruptions of
Metraton, the greatest of the angels in Jewish myths and legends. The
function of Metraton differs in various stories, but the most important
ones are as God's mediator with men and as a guardian ofheavenly
secrets.

[82]
Lyndy Abraham writes: "The secret fire (the fiery water and the watery
fire) lies hidden in the alchemist's raw matter ('gold') and is stirred
into action by the application of the outer material fire". Lyndy
Abraham, A Dictionary of Alchemical Imagery (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ.
Press, 2001), p. 76.

[91]
The three phases of the alchemical process, Nigredo, Albedo, and Rubedo
are sometimes extended to include a fourth phase, Citrinitas, or the
yellow stage, considered to take place between Albedo and Rubedo. This
was known already by the Greek alchemists. For instance, Maria the
Jewess is attributed by Zosimus of Panopolis (late third and early
fourth centuries) to be familiar with the four phases of color
transformation. Raphael Patai, "Maria the Jewess-Founding Mother of
Alchemy:' Ambix, vol. 29, part 3 (Nov. 1982), p. 181.

[93] It
is tempting to draw a parallel between the three phases of alchemy and
the three phases ofVan Gennep's Rites de Passage: Nigredo Corresponds to
the first phase in which the candidate is separated from his or her
previous state; Albedo to the marginal or liminal state; and finally,
Rubedo to the aggregation phase, or the incorporation of the candidate
into the new phase.

[96] The
Prima Materia presupposes a monistic theory of metals, in which all
substances are believed to be basically one. The Greek alchemist Chymes
is cited by Zosimus as having declared, "One is the All, and it is
through it that the All is born. One is the All, and if the All does not
contain all, the All will not be born". Patai, "Maria the Jewess;' p.
182.

[97]
These four qualities Correspond to the theory of Galen (b. 131) in which
the human body is made up of four humours: blood (heat) bile (cold)
black bile (dryness),

[99] On
Paracelsus see Andrew Weeks, Paracelsus-Speculative Theory and the
Crisis of the Early Reformation (Albany, N.Y.: SUNY Press, 1997); for
his alchemical writings see Arthur Edward Waite) ed., The Hermetic &
Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus the Great (London: Elliott, 1894). On
the impact of Paracelsism on eighteenth-century France see Allen G.
Debus, Chemistry, Alchemy and the New Philosophy 1550-1700 (London:
Variorum Reprints, 1987), pp. 36-54. See alSo Allen G. Debus, The French
Paracelsians (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991).

[105]
In full, the passage reads, "What is above is like that which is below,
and what is below is like that which is above," or in Latin, "Quod est
Inferius est sicut quod est Superius, et quod est Superius est sicut
quod est Inferius."

[114]
See also Nicholas Flamel, " A Short Tract, or Philosophical Summery" in
The Hermetic Museum, vol. 1, pp. 141-47. Livre des figures
hieroglyphiques was first published in 1612 by Arnauld de la Chevalerie
as a French translation of a presumably lost Latin original text. A
Latin manuscript version exists, however, at the archives of the Swedish
Grand Lodge of Freemasonry. A Swedish translation by Kjell Lekeby from
the Latin manuscript was published as Nicholas Flamel, Boken om de
Hieroglyfiska Bilderna (Stockholm: Vertigo, Philosophiska Forlaget,
1996).

[115]
For more information on Thomas Vaughan, see the biographical
introduction to Alan Rudrum, ed., The Works of Thomas Vaughan (Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1984), and DGWE, pp. 1,157-58.

[116]
These are included together with" A Perfect and Full Discoverie of the
True Coelum Terrae, or The Magican's Heavenly Chaos, and First Matter of
all Things" in

Thomas
Vaughan, The Magical Writings of Thomas Vaughan (Eugenius Philalethes)
(London: George Redway, 1888). These are also included in Rudrum, The
Works of Thomas Vaughan.

[120]
Other alchemical works by Maier include Arcana arcanissima ([Oppenheim?]
London: 1614); Examen fucorum (Francofurti: 1617); Tripus Aureus (Francofurti:
1618). His Rosicrucian apologetic works include Silentium post clamores
(Francofurti: 1617) and the celebrated Themis aurea (Francofurti: 1618),
translated into English as Themis Aurea: The Laws of the Fraternity of
the Rosie Crosse (London: For N. Brooke, 1656). For a thorough
discussion of Maier's alchemical and Rosicrucian pursuits, see Hereward
Tilton, The Questfor the Phoenix (Berlin & New York: Walter de Gruyter,
2003).

[123]
For an overview of how alchemy of the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries
differs from earlier forms of alchemy, see DGWE, pp. 42-50. For a good
general introduction to alchemy, see Bruce T. Moran, Distilling
Knowledge (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2005).

EDITOR'S NOTE:
This paper is chapter 5 of Henrik Bogdan's book Western Esotericism and Rituals
of Initiation, published by State University of New York Press, SUNY
Series in Western Esoteric Traditions, in 2006.

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Each year the Scottish Rite Research Society publishes a volume of insightful, scholarly, and thought-provoking articles on all aspects of Freemasonry, but with a general emphasis on the Scottish Rite. Past volumes include studies on biography, bibliography, the evolution and meaning of Masonic rituals, history, kabbalah, hermeticism, Masonic poetry, Prince Hall Affiliation, symbolism, and much more. Each volume is usually between 150-250 pages, and may be color illustrated. (One volume is sent free each year to dues-current Scottish Rite Research Society members.)

Heredom [orig. unknown] is a significant word in "high degree" Freemasonry, from French Rose Croix rituals where it refers to a mythical mountain in Scotland, the legendary site of the first such Chapter. Possible explanations include: Hieros-domos, Greek for Holy House, Harodim, Hebrew for overseers; Heredum, Latin for of the heirs.